Germany detains Syrian, Tunisian in anti-terror raids
Two later freed, but prosecutors say they and third suspect still being investigated for planning 'serious act of violence'
German police said Friday they had briefly detained two men on suspicion of planning a “serious act of violence” following raids in Berlin targeting Islamists.
The two men, aged 28 and 46, were released in the early hours of Friday after being detained following police commando raids Thursday on an Islamic cultural center in western Berlin and a building in Britz, a southern suburb of the German capital.
“I can confirm that both suspects were freed from custody at 4:30 a.m. (0330 GMT),” said police spokeswoman Kerstin Ismer.
Berlin prosecutors said Friday they were still investigating the two, a Syrian and a Tunisian, and a third suspect, on suspicion they had planned an attack, and were examining digital data carriers in search of evidence.
“We continue to investigate three persons on suspicion of having planned a serious act of violence,” Berlin public prosecutors spokesman Martin Steltner told AFP.
The two men were picked up by police Thursday in Britz in the multicultural Neukoelln district, where police also examined a suspicious object in a car that turned out to be harmless.
The searches did not turn up any weapons or explosives.
German media reported officers had acted on a tip-off that an attack in the western city of Dortmund was being planned, as European police forces are on high alert following the jihadist attacks in Paris on November 13 that claimed 130 lives.
The German paper Bild reported on Friday that four assault rifles used in the deadly Paris attacks were allegedly purchased from a trafficker in Germany.
Quoting documents from the Stuttgart prosecutor’s office, the newspaper said two AK47s and two Zastava M70s were sold on November 7 by the arms dealer to a customer in Paris.
“French investigators believe that the weapons were allegedly used in the attacks in Paris,” said Bild.
The Stuttgart prosecutor was not immediately available for comment.
According to Bild, German police on November 16 arrested a 34-year-old man named Sascha W. from the southern city of Magstadt on suspicion of carrying out the illegal weapons trade.
The suspect is accused of having hawked the weapons on Darknet — a hidden network used for both licit and illicit ends — using the name “DW Guns.”
Four emails on his smartphone show that he sold “four Kalashnikov assault rifles to an Arab in Paris,” added the newspaper.
During a raid at the suspect’s house, police also found 16 other firearms, Bild said.
A Germany-Netherlands football match in the northern German city of Hanover was called off on November 17 over fears of an attack.